Glossary of Comic Book Terms

This Glossary of Comic Book Terms can help those unfamiliar with comic book terms so that they can join in the comic book conversation!

Roles Within the Comic Book Publication Process

All of these people work as a team to create a comic book.

Writer – The writer writes the story and has the overall vision of how the story will go. They write the text and dialogue about how the story progresses.

Penciler – This person takes the initial script and hand draws the comic. They draw the comic in pencil which then gets inked and colored as the comic book develops.

Inker – The inker inks over the pencil version of the comic book. Sometimes this is done digitally but occasionally it is still done with actual ink.

Colorist – As the name implies, this person gives the comic color. This used to be done with colored ink but more often, this is now done digitally to allow for variants of different styles.

Letterer – The letterer will take the script and creates all the dialogue, word balloons, thought bubbles, and various written sound effects into the comic.

Editor – The comic book editor ensures that everything is perfect prior to publicaion of the comic book. They check for spelling mistakes, art problems, andd any other issues that need final attention prior to publication.

Comic Book Formats

Single Issue – This is the serial magazine style format of a comic. These are generally numbered in chronological order eg. Issue #5.

Prestige Edition – These are comic books that are usually 48-64 pages long that have a thin spine.

Digital Comics – Editions of comics that can be viewed on computer screens, tablets or mobile phones., or other electronic reading device.

Digital First – This happens when a comic is released in a digital format first then later in print. format.

Collected Edition – This is where multiple single issues are collected to create a whole story or set of stories, often collecting five to six single issues.